Employment & contractor agreements
Employment agreements, independent contractor agreements, offer letters, and related workplace documents — built to hold up as your business grows.
Whether you’re hiring employees or bringing on contractors, we draft the workplace documents that set clear expectations and protect your business — at a fixed fee, scoped and agreed before any work begins.
Whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor isn’t about what you call them — it’s about how the relationship actually works. Get it wrong and the liability is onerous: CRA reassessments for unpaid CPP, EI, and source deductions, plus overtime, taxes with interest and penalties, and benefits you never budgeted for.
Without the right terms, the common law fills the gaps in the employee’s favour — a termination clause that isn’t ESA-compliant can trigger far more notice than you intended, a vague bonus clause can be claimed on the way out, and a missing non-solicitation covenant leaves your clients and team exposed. Clear, carefully drafted terms keep you out of those traps.
Whether someone is an employee or an independent contractor isn’t about what you call them — it’s about how the relationship actually works. Getting it wrong can mean CRA reassessments for unpaid CPP, EI, and source deductions, plus Employment Standards Act entitlements you didn’t plan for. We help you classify each relationship correctly and draft the agreement to match.
Under Canadian copyright law, an independent contractor owns what they create unless the agreement says otherwise — so the code, designs, or content you paid for may not be yours. We make sure your contractor agreements assign that IP to your business, with the moral-rights waiver the law also requires.
Your confidential information is part of what makes the business valuable, and a confidentiality clause — often working hand in hand with IP ownership — keeps it protected during and after the relationship. Because Ontario now bans most employee non-competes, a well-drafted non-solicitation covenant is your main defence against a departing worker taking your clients and your team. We draft both to be clear and enforceable.
A termination clause that falls short of Employment Standards Act minimums can be struck down entirely, leaving you exposed to far more notice than you intended. We draft termination language built to stand up.
A short intake form to start: who you’re bringing on, whether it’s an employee or a contractor, and what the role involves.
A call to understand the relationship, the risks, and what you need the agreement to do.
A plain-language engagement letter setting out exactly what we’ll do, the fixed fee, and by when — agreed before any drafting begins.
We draft the agreement — classification, IP, and termination handled — refine it with you, and give you a clean, ready-to-sign document.
It comes down to how the relationship actually works, not the label — courts and the CRA look at things like who controls the work, who supplies the tools, and who carries the financial risk. The distinction drives tax treatment, Employment Standards Act entitlements, and who owns the work created. There’s also a middle category, the dependent contractor, who can be owed notice on termination.
If the CRA or a court decides someone you treated as a contractor was really an employee, the cost lands on you — back CPP and EI contributions, unpaid source deductions, and interest and penalties, plus possible Employment Standards Act entitlements like vacation pay, overtime, and termination notice. A misclassified contractor can also turn out to own work you assumed was yours. We look at how the relationship actually functions, correct the structure where we can, and draft an agreement that reflects a genuine contractor relationship so the exposure stops growing.
Not automatically. Under Canadian copyright law, an independent contractor owns what they create unless your agreement assigns it to you in writing — and moral rights have to be waived separately. We build a proper IP assignment and moral-rights waiver into your contractor agreements so the work is yours.
In most cases, no. Ontario law now prohibits non-compete agreements with employees, with only narrow exceptions such as the sale of a business or certain executive roles. What does work is well-drafted confidentiality and non-solicitation terms, which we use to protect your information, your clients, and your team.
An offer letter on its own usually doesn’t cover the terms that protect you — termination, confidentiality, and IP. A proper employment or contractor agreement puts all of that in writing, which is far easier to rely on than an informal understanding if something goes wrong.
No — an employment relationship is valid without a signed contract, and plenty exist that way. But going without one rarely works in your favour: where the agreement is silent, the common law fills the gap on the employee’s side, which usually means longer reasonable-notice obligations on termination and little protection for your confidential information, clients, or IP. A written agreement is how you set those terms up front instead of having them decided for you after a dispute.
Whether you’re hiring an employee or engaging a contractor, let’s get the agreement right from the start. The first conversation is on us.
Book a callThe information above is general in nature and is not legal advice. Every situation and transaction is different, and advice tailored to your specific circumstances is required to address your particular needs. If you have questions, contact Align Counsel at info@aligncounsel.ca.